Dead Leaves
by Frog-kun
Summary: When Akari pays Hikaru a surprise visit ten years after the end of the series, he decides to revisit his old childhood friends from the Go club. But things have changed, and Hikaru discovers that what had been once can never again be...
1. Prologue

_Outside, a gentle, whimsical wind blew and scattered dead leaves across the ground. The woman walked gingerly over the leaf-trodden path, as if wary that the sound of her footsteps would disturb some cosmic equilibrium. Her hesitation was uncalled for, she realised. There were no animals around to disturb, not even any birds. She could hear the flow of water somewhere to her right, but with each step she took, the sound of it became more distant. Less significant, somehow._

_Ahead of her was a house. It was not a very large establishment, perhaps smaller than a family unit. Yet she physically hesitated as she drew near. In spite of its stature, the house seemed grand. It was a place of bamboo and sliding doors, of ponds filled with reeds and carp fishes, of silent murmuring music punctuated by the clack of Go stones being laid down. No matter what the woman did, she was conscious of her inability to cause even a ripple in the world she was about to enter._

_Bravely, the woman plunged ahead. Above and behind her, more dead leaves fell off their trees and on to the path in her wake._

**Prologue**

"Hikaru, is that you?"

"A-Akari?"

The woman stepped forward when the door opened for her and clasped her right hand tightly against her chest. She smiled, so sweet and nostalgic, it felt as if some part of her heart was dislodging and rearranging itself inside of her chest.

"It's been a while, Hikaru."

She wondered if it was the same for him.

"Yeah, it has been."

She often had a knack for feeling things one way or the other, but this time, she honestly didn't know.

A cool breeze swept through the garden, and Akari heard the leaves in the garden rustle as if in response. She shivered, and at that moment she wondered what on earth she was actually _doing_. If this place was the _here _she wanted to be.

Hikaru closed the door and immediately, the sound of the wind died away.

"Want any tea?" he asked with a tilt of his head.

"Um, okay," Akari responded as she knelt to take off her boots. The shoe rack, she noticed, was filled with a combination of dirty sneakers and meticulously polished black shoes. Akari stood up after she noiselessly pulled on a pair of house slippers.

"It's so quiet here," she remarked at length. There was nothing else she could think to say.

In answer, Hikaru only chuckled. "That's only 'cos Toya's not here right now," he replied. He was out of sight in the next room somewhere, which Akari assumed was the kitchen because she could the sound of a kettle boiling. Even that coupled with Hikaru's laughter did little to dispel the quietude in the atmosphere.

Akari decided that she liked it, even though there was something a bit lonely about it. But maybe Hikaru was incapable of feeling that now.

She entered the kitchen and thanked Hikaru when he presented her with a warm cup of green tea. When she smiled, she wondered if Hikaru could see any of her loneliness.

"So is this what you Go players do in your free time?" She giggled. "Drink tea and play more Go?"

"Actually, Toya drinks coffee," Hikaru interjected, grinning. "And I drink lemonade."

Akari stared.

"At least it doesn't get cold," Hikaru pointed out. "Not to mention sugar brings out the Go genius in me."

She couldn't help it then. It was as if all the tension she felt inside of herself broke out into ripples. She burst out laughing.

"You haven't changed a bit!" she snorted. "How long's it been? Ten years?"

"About that, yeah."

She stopped laughing then, although not suddenly for the sensation to be jarring. When her chuckles faded altogether, she felt something ebb in her heart, and then something unseen in the corner of her eyes responded.

She had lied.

"What's wrong, Akari?" Hikaru asked, his face creasing in worry.

"It's nothing," Akari said quickly. She shook her head. She hadn't come to see Hikaru to be sad about it.

There was still an etched silence before she spoke again. It lasted for less than a second, but it was just another lifetime for her.

"So you're living with Toya-kun now," she commented.

Hikaru nodded. "Yeah, he should be back any minute now."

Akari found herself thinking: _It'll be too late then_.

Or maybe it already was.

"Hikaru," she began, hesitantly. "There's something… something I want to ask."

He put down the teapot. Paused.

"What is it, Akari?"

He didn't know. It had been ten years, after all.

Akari took a deep breath, steadying herself.

"I came, so let's play a game. A game of Go, alright?"

For a moment, Hikaru didn't say anything. Akari waited with bated breath.

And then Hikaru said, his countenance somber: "Are you sure?"

"Yes," said Akari.

"Are you sure you still don't suck?"

Akari made a noise of frustration.

* * *

><p>The clacks of stone against wooden board created a rhythm within Akari's mind in spite of their sporadic intervals. It had been a long while since she had last picked up a Go stone and even though the texture felt no different, the hand that held it had changed. Her fingers trembled and slipped when she picked up a stone, so much so that when she eventually placed it down, it wobbled. Akari stared at it resignedly until it went still. Only then did she peer at Hikaru's face.<p>

"Why?" he asked her.

_Clack._

He placed his own stone down with consummate ease.

"I haven't played Go since high school," Akari whispered in answer. "Guess I'm a bit rusty."

"More than a bit," Hikaru replied tartly. "Why are you playing at the centre?"

In response, Akari simply shook her head helplessly and smiled sheepishly.

"Hikaru," she said softly as she gingerly picked up another stone. "I always knew as well as you did that Go wasn't the game for me." She placed the stone down with an accompanying sigh. "But I did like it, you know."

Hikaru said nothing.

"Those days with the Go club," Akari went on wistfully, "they were fun."

Hikaru wordlessly placed another stone down.

His silence should have _infuriated _Akari but now, as she sat on her knees and peered at the now handsome face of her childhood friend, she could not find a part of her that could possibly be angry. Instead, she felt a little stab of pain in her chest, the way she always felt when an old childhood memory became warped with time. She had to remind herself again: _she wasn't here to grieve about him_.

"Hikaru," Akari resumed. She noticed to her chagrin that her chest was slowly heaving. "Have you forgotten us all?"

"It was the hardest choice I ever had to make."

He said it so quietly, so soberly, and she noticed his hands fall to his sides and ball into fists. His eyebrows creased, as if he was willing himself to concentrate.

Or not to cry.

"I never _meant _to drift from all of you," he insisted. "I just – it just-"

"I know," Akari stopped him short, gently. "It wasn't your fault. These things happen."

Something in Hikaru's expression softened.

"So how are the others?" he asked. "Mitani? Tsutsui-san? I haven't kept in contact with them either."

At the mention of a particular name, Akari felt something inside of her clench up tightly.

She looked up and smiled – delicately, as if she was trying to fix up part of herself.

"We've all grown up and changed, Hikaru," she said. "All of us."

"Oh, yeah," said Hikaru, scratching his cheek. "You've changed too, you know."

"Oh, really? Have I?"

"You've gotten taller," Hikaru said.

Akari picked up a black Go stone.

"Is that it?" she pressed him. "Just taller?"

"Um, yeah?"

She flicked the stone at him.

"Not wiser, not prettier, just _taller_?"

"Ouch!" Hikaru exclaimed. "How about nastier?"

That comment rewarded him with another stone to the forehead. And then another. And another. It felt better than it should have; it was somehow vindicating. It wasn't _Hikaru _she was doing this to anyway. Hikaru Shindo the professional Go player maybe, but not Hikaru, the boy who lived next door.

But when he waved his hands over his face and yelled indignantly but not convincingly because he had a ridiculous grin on his face… He came close. _More, more, more_, Akari thought in desperation, and she laughed and laughed and _laughed_, until her sides ached.

She was so busy raining stones upon Hikaru that she barely even noticed the door slide open.

"Am I interrupting something?" a young man's voice interjected mildly. Akira Toya stood at the doorway, a politely puzzled look on his face.

Akari looked up, startled.

Involuntarily, her hands shook violently, and immediately she stopped what she was doing.

She had come to the end of a line.

**End Prologue**

"_It's too late now," she whispered._

_The wind had become cold and in the sky, the moon shone dimly, not brightly. It was as if it had forgotten how to shine._

"_I have to go." Her voice was low, insistent. "Because it's too late."_

_Outside, the leaves continued to fall in their steady cadence._

* * *

><p><strong>Author's note: <strong>Hikaru is not being paired with Akari. Her role in the story is pretty much already over. I suppose you could probably see which way my shipping goggles are tilted if you squint.

Anyway, thanks for reading. The next chapter will hopefully be up soon. It won't be too long a story, but we'll see how it pans out.


	2. Chapter One

**Chapter One**

Akari left later that evening, departing with a wave and smile that seemed somewhat tight-lipped. Hikaru wondered if she was still angry at him. It had been a long while since they were last together, after all. And their reunion had been too brief for him to really understand if she had changed that much at all.

But he was genuinely happy to see her. His old friend. When she was gone, she left behind an emptiness that Hikaru had not noticed before. Ten years only seemed that long when he looked back on it. Now he was almost stunned by how many years he had spent thinking he could visit Akari and the others if he had time. They wouldn't forget him.

They hadn't.

Hikaru's fingers closed around his fan – his constant reminder. The familiar wood suddenly felt dizzying to him now. He put it down. Then picked it up again.

"Toya," he said presently. "Wanna play?"

In response, his rival put down the newspaper he was reading. His eyes bore into Hikaru's with all the steel they always had.

Akira smiled.

"I thought you wouldn't ask," he said as he knelt down by the board.

Hikaru and Akira had played Go together every day for quite a few years now. They had long since stopped keeping count of how many games they had won against each other (although Hikaru always maintained he had won more). But each time they sat down at a Go board and faced each other, it would be like of their first encounters: they would place their stones down and probe each other out and then attack without any reservations.

They knew each other so well it was always a delight to learn something new.

And today, Akira gazed unwaveringly at Hikaru, as if trying to discover a new chink in his armour. It did not take him long to figure out what was on Hikaru's mind.

"That friends of yours," he said. "How long have you known her?"

"Longer than I've known you," Hikaru replied.

Akira nodded. "I thought so," he said. Then he added, "She's not a Go player at all, is she?"

"No," said Hikaru, "she isn't. Just my neighbour from a long time ago."

They lapsed into silence. Hikaru gripped his fan tightly. Akira knew that meant he was concentrating.

In the end, Akira won the game by two-and-a-half komi, and the first thing he said after they put the stones away was:

"Do you want to see her again?"

"Yeah," said Hikaru, scratching his cheek, "but…"

"But that?"

"I just remembered I don't have I don't have her phone number or her address or anything."

"This is why you're a fool," said Akira, "and why I win more matches against you."

Hikaru snorted indignantly. "Excuse me! I win more games than you!"

"Who made that idiotic cut into my territory when I clearly had it well-defended?"

"Who turned that into a decent move and made a great comeback?"

"You still lost in the end."

"… Shut up."

Akira peered closely at Hikaru's face, which seemed slightly more defeated than it should have been.

He said, "You should try and find her."

Hikaru was sombre. "It's not just her. I miss everyone at the Go club I used to hang out with. Do you remember joining the Go club in middle school just so you could play me?"

Akira nodded stiffly. The memory was still somewhat painful for him.

"If you didn't do that," Hikaru said, "I would have stayed with my friends forever."

To that, Akira simply closed his eyes. "Friends, huh?"

"It wasn't the same for you."

"No, it wasn't," Akira admitted. "You were my first and only, Shindo."

"Toya…"

"It's strange but…" Akira began slowly. "If that's what I did to you, I don't regret it at all."

Hikaru was starting to smile. "I don't either," he admitted. "I'm glad."

"You always did have a choice, Shindo."

Hikaru said, "So did you."

Akira simply shook his head and gave Hikaru a melancholy smile. They had always been two thoroughly different people. Their childhoods had been could not have been further removed, for a start.

He thought about Hikaru's longing for his friends, and he said, "I can't miss something I've never had."

* * *

><p>Hikaru figured he had better begin his search while he had the momentum and the keen desire to do so. The next day, he made his way back to his old town while Akira headed off to a tournament. Hikaru would not have asked Akira to accompany him even if he had been free. They headed their separate ways, each fuelled by their own resolve.<p>

Finding Akari was no cakewalk. Hikaru had expected as much.

Nevertheless, it was still difficult to contain his disappointment when he knocked on the door of Akari's old house and found a matronly middle-aged woman instead of his childhood friends. She had a ready smile and seemed perfectly prepared to let Hikaru drink all her reserves of lemonade. In spite of her friendliness, she owned a pair of bulldogs that greeted Hikaru with leering eyes and mouths wide open to reveal rows of jagged, yellowing teeth. Hikaru decided it was best to move on from there. The lady knew nothing about the house's previous owners.

Haze middle school was his next destination. He had never been there in years and as he drove towards the school, he was aware of a fluttering sensation in his stomach. Nervousness. He was used to this feeling. He had in fact learned to treat it the same as anticipation. His hands gripped his steering wheel tighter. He was ready for this.

He stepped out of his car and was momentarily stunned.

He remembered the trees that peppered the sides of the path. They were cherry blossoms, all in full bloom to signify the start of a school year. Hikaru could vividly remember his first day of school, running along this path; all he could think about at the time was how much he was looking forward to joining the Go club. Memory had caused the exact specifics of his surroundings to become vague in his mind. Now, as he traversed the path, he could see each detail in fine, acute detail. He wondered if Sai had ever felt like this.

None of the students turned to give him a second glance. He did not look at them either. He was wholly focused towards the old science building. He knew the way, of course. He had certainly not forgotten that.

It looked different. More up-to-date, Hikaru thought. He peered through the window and looked for any signs of Go being played, but there was nothing to see except science equipment and posters of the periodic table. Hikaru looked away. He would have to ask a student.

"The Go club?" a wiry young boy who was probably a first year said when Hikaru asked him his question. "The Go building's that way, next to the library."

The Go club had its own building now? Hikaru was impressed.

It turned out that the building adjacent to the library was not too large, about the size of the science building. Hikaru recognised it at once: it was the building of the old Shogi club, but with extra rooms attached to accommodate the Go club.

Hikaru walked inside. The hallway smelt of fresh pine. Hikaru remembered the old science room smelt like disinfectant. Perhaps this was a change for the better.

The rooms dedicated to the Go club were neat, orderly, and the walls actually had a few photos and awards hung up on it. Hikaru discovered that Haze had placed runner up in the district tournament about six times in the last fifteen years or so, and it had won twice. Hikaru walked along the hallway, admiring the pictures of the teams who had taken a place, until he came to the very first photo at the end.

It was a picture of Tsutsui, Mitani and him that had been taken, he realised, just before that fateful match with Kaio middle school. Mitani was looking away from the camera, sporting that sour expression Hikaru could remember vividly. As for Tsutsui, he was smiling. Hikaru shivered and felt a wave of nostalgia overcome him. He took a step back.

"Oi, what are you doing here?"

Hikaru jumped, startled by the sudden voice behind him. He swung around.

Standing before him was a man who seemed quite familiar somehow. It took a few moments for his name to come to Hikaru.

"K-Kaga!"

Tetsuo Kaga waved his fan, and smirked.

"Been a while, squirt."

Clearly, Kaga refused to acknowledge that Hikaru had grown taller than him.

* * *

><p>Tetsuo Kaga, Shogi extraordinaire, had become the instructor of Haze middle school's Shogi and Go clubs. Age had not diminished the roguish glint in his eyes, although he had a beard now and was a bit squatter than Hikaru remembered him.<p>

"You're paying," Kaga said.

"For what?" Hikaru said confusedly.

"For ramen, what else?"

"Why me?" Hikaru groaned. "Can't we go halves?"

Kaga fanned himself, yawned, stretched and scratched his back.

Then finally he seemed to think carefully about what to say next.

"No."

Hikaru drove Kaga to the nearest ramen stall and paid the bill. Kaga _was _his senpai, after all, Hikaru thought with a sigh.

As it turned out, Tetsuo Kaga was a big eater. After the fifth bowl, he let out a belch and then began to talk. By that stage, Hikaru was beginning to surprise himself by how patiently he was putting up with it all.

"Heard you won a few titles," Kaga said. "Knew you could afford the ramen."

"Er, yeah." Hikaru looked up. "What've you been doing lately?"

"Me?" Kaga laughed. "After I left school, I thought I could turn pro, like you did with Go. But well..." He shrugged. "It didn't work out so well. I've been Shogi instructor at Haze for a couple of years now, and then last year, they shoehorned me into teaching Go as well."

It seemed Kaga had felt the pull to revisit his childhood, too. Hikaru smiled. "The Go club's gotten really big now."

"You don't say? All the schools watch out for Haze these days."

"Good," said Hikaru softly.

Kaga reached into his pockets and pulled out a cigarette and lighter. He lit the cigarette and exhaled, slowly. Hikaru had seen many men smoke, particularly in Go salons. But it was somehow distracting to see Kaga smoke.

"Um..." he spoke up at length.

Kaga looked at him. "What?"

"Do you know where Akari is?"

Kaga exhaled some more smoke. "Nah, who's she?"

Hikaru remembered that Kaga had never known Akari very well.

"What about Tsutsui-san?" he asked.

Kaga said nothing for a moment.

"You've forgotten him too?" Hikaru asked, dismayed.

But then Kaga shook his head. Deftly he extinguished his cigarette and turned to face Hikaru.

"He's been all right," he said.

"Er, how so?" Hikaru asked, suddenly nervous.

He had come too far to shy away from inquiring about Tsutsui. Akari had been vague about what happened as well. He wished he had remembered to ask.

"Want to ask him?" Kaga asked him abruptly.

Hikaru gulped, steeled himself and nodded.


	3. Chapter Two

**Author's note: **Two uploads this week to make up for the fact that I missed submitting any writing last week. I've neglected this fic for a while. Oopsies?

**Chapter Two**

If Kaga had been any other type of person, they might have driven in silence. As it was, he had to open his mouth and keep talking – if only to give directions to Hikaru, who was driving.

"This isn't really that efficient," Hikaru pointed out when they stopped at the next set of lights.

"What do _you_ know of efficiency?" a grinning Kaga shot back at him. "You sit on your knees for hours on end to play Go. You'd think they would have invented chairs by now."

"Isn't it the same for Shogi players?" Hikaru asked irritably.

Kaga yawned and fanned himself lethargically. "Touché."

The lights changed to green at that moment and Hikaru, scowling, put his foot on the accelerator.

* * *

><p>But when Hikaru really thought about it, what <em>had <em>happened to Tsutsui?

Ten years. How much could change in ten years?

So far, he had met Akari and Kaga and both of them were much like how he had remembered them in his childhood. Kaga was as charismatic as he had always been and Akari was just Akari. Hikaru remembered Tsutsui as a kind, mild-mannered boy who had had enough resolve in him to start a Go club from scratch. If Akari and Kaga were still their essential selves despite maturing with age, then what about Tsutsui? How could he have changed?

He tried to ask Kaga about it, but the former senior would only provide him with the same vague response: "Just ask him. He'll tell you."

And eventually Hikaru, stewing in his own anxiety, finally spoke, and his voice was small and oddly restrained. "He's not... you're not taking me to a cemetery, are you?"

Kaga stared at him. "You think he lives in a graveyard?"

"Er..."

"He's got a house, derpface."

"Then what... why?"

Kaga continued to peer intently at the side of Hikaru's face before he sighed.

"All right, all right, I'll tell you what happened so you don't get any funny ideas."

He took a deep breath.

"Tsutsui went to a good high school (although mine was better), and then went to a good university, and then he got a job working for some firm in Tokyo. Married a nice girl too."

"He got _married_?"

Kaga snorted. "Just because _you're _married to Go doesn't mean other people can't have human beings as lovers. Anyway, Tsutsui settled down with a wife and a 9-to-5 job. Had a kid too. A girl, by the way."

"Oh," said Hikaru, feeling stupid. "Then what's the big deal?"

"The deal is that you let me smoke in your car. I'm dying for a fag."

"Ewww no," said Hikaru. "Just tell me about Tsutsui-san. What you just said can't be all that happened."

"You're right," Kaga said simply, after a pause.

Hikaru felt something flip over in his stomach. It was an unpleasant sensation that was similar, he realised, to when Sai vanished. His mouth was suddenly dry.

"On second thought," continued Kaga, "that's not the only thing you're right about. I guess Tsutsui does live in a graveyard. Let's stop there."

* * *

><p>The wind felt unexpectedly chilly when Hikaru stepped out of the car. Afternoon was rapidly approaching evening now and as the sun began to set, shadows crept longer across the cemetery. (Akira, Hikaru thought, would be done in his match by now and would be heading home at this very minute, maybe stopping at a Go salon on the way back.) He looked up and around him, firstly at the darkening sky and then at the tombstones around him.<p>

Hikaru could remember visiting a cemetery only twice in his life. The first time was to look for Sai; the second was to attend the late Toya Meijin's funeral. Both times had caused his heart to constrict and tighten and then feel as if it had flooded into his mouth. He had come both times _hoping _against all odds that the ghosts of the past would return to him.

This time was no different from the others. He kept glancing around, his gaze fleeting and desperate and searching – all for Tsutsui. And his eyes were drawn to the names on the tombstones.

It happened at around the twentieth tombstone he encountered. He might not have seen the name at all, if he hadn't knelt down to tie his shoelaces. A small, almost baby-sized grave lay to his left, and the first thing he noticed about it was -

_TSUTSUI._

- the flowers. Pale, white and freshly picked.

"Kaga..." Hikaru breathed. "Kaga, look!"

Kaga knelt down beside him. "Looks like he came here earlier today," he said as he peered at the flowers. "We just missed him."

Hikaru read the words engraved on a plaque on the stone.

_IN LOVING MEMORY OF NATSUMI TSUTSUI (AGED 4). SHE WILL LIVE ON IN THE HEARTS OF HER PARENTS._

"No," Hikaru whispered hoarsely. "_No!_"

He turned to Kaga. The mirth was gone in the older man's face, replaced by such a such sombre expression that simply seeing it made Hikaru's heart clench even further.

"It was an accident," Kaga said slowly. "Tsutsui was driving her to kindergarten one day and then some asshole ran a red light and hit him from the side."

Pause.

"Tsutsui was fine. He was on the other side."

"But his daughter died," Hikaru supplied for him.

"Right."

More silence. It really was getting dark... and cold.

Hikaru stood up abruptly. His hands were clenched into fists beside him.

"Why didn't anyone _tell _me?" he demanded.

"How could we?" Kaga answered irritably. He removed his cigarette from his mouth, threw it to the ground and crushed it against his shoe. "You were playing in some title championships at that time. Tsutsui said not to tell you."

"He didn't tell me anything!" Hikaru snapped. "Not even that he had a daughter in the first place!"

Kaga said nothing. At length, Hikaru could only stop frowning. He exhaled heavily, feeling the chill of approaching night roll over his skin. It left the inside of him feeling empty and yet not really that cold in comparison. It felt strangely lukewarm.

"Do you still want to see him?" Kaga asked him.

"I can't," Hikaru replied. "Not now." And he found that he was right, he really couldn't.

In response, the wind howled and scattered dead leaves around him.

* * *

><p>"Something's bothering you, isn't it?" Akira Toya said to him that night.<p>

Hikaru looked up. It seemed as if his head was weighted down by an invisible anchor. It was much easier to drop his head back down and stare without appetite at his dinner.

"I couldn't bring myself to meet with my old friend today," he admitted. He told Akira about Tsutsui and his daughter.

"It's not your fault, you know," Akira told him. "That had nothing to do with you."

"I know," Hikaru said quietly. "But still..."

Akira stood up and picked up his now spotless plate. "Shindo," he intoned solemnly.

"What?"

"Cheer up, you fool."

"Okay." Then Hikaru blanched. "I mean what – no! YOU cheer up, idiot!"

Akira rolled his eyes.

* * *

><p>Before they had parted ways, Kaga had assured Hikaru of something. "I thought you at least knew about what happened," he had said with a shake of his head. "But oh well. He doesn't hate you, you know."<p>

"I'm glad," Hikaru had said in response, but inwardly, he wasn't. He wondered how Tsutsui could even feel that way.

Now Hikaru lay awake in his bed, staring listlessly up at the ceiling. He found himself thinking, not just about Tsutsui but about Sai as well. He wondered how it must have felt for his old friend to wake up and realise that everyone he knew was gone and faded into memories.

Hikaru knew that he needed to discover more. There was no rational reason for this, except that he felt the need for it. It coursed through his being. This was something he needed to do. It had come to this stage.

The next morning, he returned to the cemetery. This time, he was prepared. He placed the flowers by Natsumi's head stone and clapped his hands together in prayer. He did not know what Natsumi looked like, but he could imagine how her father must have been. He would have been a loyal and caring father, the type of man who might have tried, in awkward yet endearing ways, to be a pillar of support to his daughter. Hikaru could imagine Tsutsui always spending time with Natsumi when he could. He could imagine him being the type of man who would produce a daughter who was a "daddy's girl". Images flashed through Hikaru's mind, of myriad possibilities and moments, all of them resonating with fondness and fatherly affection. In the best way he could, Hikaru grieved for a girl he never knew.

At length, he opened his eyes. The dead leaves had gathered around the headstone, casting a brown hue over the pathway. Hikaru's eyes flitted over them for a moment, and then he blinked.

One of the leaves had writing written on it.

It was a more solid, less cracked leaf than the usual. In fact, as Hikaru peered more closely at it, he realised it wasn't a real leaf at all. It was just a composite made of plastic. But that wasn't what caught Hikaru's eye: it was the fact that it had his name written on it.

He picked up the leaf gingerly and turned it over, reading the writing there. Hikaru's first impulse was that Kaga had written it, but why? He did not understand. What _was _this?

He stared, confused, at the leaf and its message for a very long time. Despite the simplicity of the message, it took many rereading for him to even begin to guess what it was about. For the first time in a very long while, he felt conscious of a presence no one else could perceive.

But it wasn't Sai. That much Hikaru knew.

_Next is Mitani._

Three words. Deliberately, Hikaru stood up, placed the leaf carefully into his pocket and began to walk.


End file.
